Page 97 of Bound By Crimson
A pair of tall, wrought-iron gates rising from stone pillars, tangled in ivy and rust.
The trees behind them were thick, shadowed, whispering in the wind.
Charles pressed a button on the dash. The gates began to open with a long, aching creak.
Lyric swallowed hard as they pulled through.
The drive curved like a secret.
And somewhere, deep in the woods ahead, a house waited.
Old.
Massive.
Home.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Thornwick Estate
As the car rolled through the gates, Lyric noticed the large etched sign on the stone pillar:Thornwick Estate.
She blinked and turned to Kai. “Thornwick? Is that your last name? Not Thorn?”
He paused, staring straight ahead, nodding once, “It is.”
That was all he gave her.
As the gates closed behind them with a groaning finality, the outside world disappeared behind iron and ivy.
Ahead, Thornwick Estate began to appear—slowly, as if it were emerging from the very earth itself.
An immense fortress of grey stone and shadow, its walls stretched wide into the landscape.
The gabled roofs pitched steep and sharp against the misty sky.
Twin wings unfurled from the central structure, east and west, enclosing sprawling gardens choked by wild vines.
The windows, tall and narrow, blinked in the pale daylight like tired, suspicious eyes.
The heavy oak doors sat recessed beneath a crumbling archway, crowned with fractured glass.
Even in daylight, the house felt dim.
Dim... and watching.
Charles parked the car in the long circular drive.
He stepped out, came around, and opened the door like it was second nature.
Still, Lyric’s stomach twisted as her heels clicked against the cobblestone.
She paused, staring up at the estate, feeling its weight settle deep into her bones.
“You should know… there are some rules here,” Kai said quietly. “It will be fine.”
Something in the way he said it made her glance at him twice—but before she could press further, he was already walking toward the front door.
